Media Item

A woman arrives in Australia. She is a refugee. She has a disability. She discovers there is no suitable home for her to stay. Instead, she and her family are placed in short-term accommodation without facilities to support her basic needs. They are forced to take desperate measures.

One of the perennial topics of conversation about diversity, centres on how to shift culture. We need to shift culture so that diverse people will be attracted to an organisation and stay as employees or customers.

Yes, as has often been the case, the Coalition government has had to be dragged kicking and screaming to the point where the proposal finally has bipartisan support. But, as with last year’s banking Royal Commission, the important thing is it got there.

The updated review process provides a smoother access to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT), allowing participants to approach the tribunal immediately if they are unhappy with the outcome of the initial internal review.

Disability advocates are calling for a royal commission into the violence and abuse of people with disability to be set up immediately after the Morrison government threw its support behind the inquiry.

Federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has met with families, advocates and victims of disability abuse in Melbourne, making an emotional plea for a royal commission. “There is no more unexamined corner of the life of Australia than the abuse and violence experienced by people with disability,” he said on Saturday.

It’s time for Scott Morrison to do the right thing and support a royal commission into violence and abuse against people with disability. Hear from people with disability, their families and advocates who have experienced abuse first hand – they are speaking out at a rally in Melbourne

A motion from Greens Senator Jordan Steele-John to establish a Royal Commission into abuse in the disability sector passed the Senate and had the numbers to pass the House of Representatives. The Government extended Question Time by an extra hour to avoid the vote, but they’ll have to deal with it when Parliament resumes on Monday.

The pilot will be based out of Melbourne’s Torren University, which will include a one-year work readiness program, including partnership with a national employer and a seven-week work placement program. Thirteen participants with Down syndrome between 22 and 35 years old will participate in the pilot. The program involves extensive collaboration across industry, education, disability employment services, media, Government and the not-for-profit sector.

The ABC understands more than 110 people are currently occupying hospital beds throughout South Australia, waiting for their NDIS plan to be approved.
South Australia’s Health Minister Stephen Wade said some of those people had been waiting for more than a year.

Reforms to improve Specialist Disability Accommodation services in the NDIS have been welcomed by disability groups, who say it will allow people with disability more choice and control over their accommodation options.

People with disability from non-English speaking backgrounds are accessing disability services up to two-thirds less than Australian-born people despite having similar rates of disability, according to a new report from Settlement Services International’s (SSI)